Bobby Witt Jr, whose ability to hit and throw a ball has brought the Royals substantial amounts of money from fans going to games to see him, buying his jersey, and otherwise participating in their Royals fandom;

This distinction matters to them. It means they have rights!

MLB team owners have twice been told in legal rulings that their labor practices were illegal and a violation of common law rights to labor and contract (1914, 1975) in lawsuits filed against them by their players. MLB players in 1975 essentially created professional sports free agency by consistently pushing back on their league’s unfair practices.

Being an employee is a point of pride for them and is fundamentally nonnegotiable because most of them, historically, weren’t.

They fought relentlessly for a century and a half to be considered employees. Several players were blackballed and publicly smeared for pushing back against the owners for this. The least we can do as fans is acknowledge the work that’s been put in and consider them as the employees they are.